V.2.2.1. Basic science and technology It is likely that an embarking State has universities providing most of those basic competences, except possibly in the field of nuclear engineering. It is also likely that the management, with help from the recruitment staff of the regulatory body, will find professionals with the referred academic background and experience in other industries, but not in the nuclear industry. In this case, training in a specific discipline at the level of ‘applied technology’, as described below, needs to be provided before the new recruits engage in an activity at the regulatory body related to that discipline.

V.2.2.2. Applied science and technology This training is intended to provide an overview of the concepts and principles guiding the activities of the regulatory body. It is not expected that the staff will become fully operational at the end of the training.

In the early phases of a nuclear power programme, the regulatory body may not have the human resources to prepare and to conduct the training. In this case, it needs to find external support, which could be a local or external university, a more mature regulatory body, the IAEA or an international school specialized in the field of nuclear safety.

V.2.2.3. Specialized science and technology

Some typical scientific fields or specialized areas that are common to many regulatory bodies are those that are needed for the review and assessment of the safety analysis report (SAR) and that are described in the main part of this publication.

Training at the level of specialized technology needs to include mentoring and OJT, since the goal is to develop the KSAs at the necessary level of proficiency to allow the staff to perform the tasks under their responsibility in an autonomous way.

It is expected that several years will be needed for a staff member to acquire the competences at the specialized technology level. The experience from some regulatory bodies is that you may need several additional years to become a senior specialist in a particular area.

V.2.3. Quadrant 3: Competences related to a regulatory body’s practices These competence areas are described in Section 3.1.3. The following is a collection of some considerations based on experience from embarking States.

V.2.3.1. Review and assessment Review and assessment is the review of technical documents submitted by the licensee (competences presented in Quadrant 3) that will be conducted over the lifetime of the NPP. In a nuclear power programme, review and assessment is a main responsibility of the regulatory body for the authorizations it has to give.

The different stages in the lifetime of a nuclear installation may or may not have

an authorization associated with them, but could include (see Ref. [11]):

— Approving the site chosen by the licensee;

— Authorizing the construction;

— Authorizing the commissioning;

— Authorizing the commencement of operation;

— Authorizing modifications in the design or in the operation;

— Authorizing the conduct of other safety related activities, such as periodic safety reviews and decommissioning.

For each of the above review and assessment activities, it is expected that the regulatory body will develop documents — as part of its management system — explaining how these activities will be conducted. These documents can be written in terms of flow diagrams, procedures or work instructions, with the goal to provide detailed guidance to the staff of the regulatory body involved in the activity.

V.2.3.2. Authorization

In a nuclear power programme, an activity important for safety cannot be initiated without authorization from the regulatory body. The authorization for a particular activity is provided to the licensee on the basis of the review and assessment process described in Section 3.1.3. For example, the pouring of concrete for safety related buildings cannot be initiated before the issuance of a construction licence by the regulatory body.

It is expected that the regulatory body will prepare documents explaining the steps of the authorization process, the required documentation, the interface with the licensee and other concerned organizations, and the estimated duration for the review and assessment process. This duration can be re-evaluated depending on the safety issues identified. Ideally, the authorization process needs to be defined before the bid process is conducted, which leads to the competences to conduct this activity occurring early in Phase 2.

V.2.3.3. Inspection

This competence area for an embarking State is the ability to understand the inspection processes adopted by other States or suggested by the IAEA and, based on those, to develop its inspection process.

Inspections are conducted by the regulatory body at the construction phase — Phase 3 — and later during the operation phase of the NPP. The nature and competences required in both cases are not the same, showing that the competences of inspectors have to evolve as the nuclear power programme moves from construction to operation. In the former case, the inspections aim to verify that the facility is constructed in accordance with the licence and includes compliance with the industrial codes adopted in the design of the NPP; while in the latter, the focus is on operation in conformance with the licence and includes compliance with the approved operational programmes.

It is expected that early in Phase 3, the regulatory body will have the competences to build an inspection programme as well as to conduct inspections in some critical areas and that this process is described in documents under the management system.

V.2.3.4. Enforcement Under the legal framework of various States, certain enforcement powers are conferred to the inspectors of the regulatory body, and an internal process, under the management system, needs to be developed by the regulatory body to clarify how these powers will be exercised.

V.2.3.5. Development of regulations and guides For an embarking State, this competence area is the ability to understand the process for developing regulations and guides adopted by other States, and — based on those — to develop its own development process.

Regulatory staff involved in the preparation of regulations need to have the ability to create and manage a plan, defining deadlines for the issuance regulations which are consistent with the nuclear power programme schedule.

The plan needs to give priority to the regulations that are needed in Phase 2 (regulations describing the licensing process, site evaluation, and design and management system).

V.2.4. Quadrant 4: Personal and behavioural competences

These competence areas are described in Section 3.1.4. The following is a collection of some considerations based on the experience from embarking States. They are not specific to the nuclear field, but they are relevant to any project oriented organization.

At an early phase of the nuclear power programme (Phase 2), the senior management of the regulatory body needs to take actions that will drive the future activities of the regulatory body. Some of the actions identified in IAEA

Safety Standards Series No. SSG-16 [6] are presented below:

— Consider various regulatory approaches and establish its own;

— Prepare preliminary workforce plan;

— Establish the physical infrastructure required to have the regulatory body functional;

— Define the licensing process;

— Prepare an initial training programme;

— Establish management system.

All these actions require managers with strong competences in Quadrant 4, in particular in the ability to gather information, in developing a comprehensive understanding of the issues being addressed, and in preparing policies and programmes for the organization.

In Phase 3, the newly established regulatory body has to respond to the demands of the nuclear power programme by reviewing the NPP design and later by conducting inspections for the construction phase. Those regulatory functions cannot be conducted properly without strong competences in Quadrant 4 — in particular, the ability of the staff to gather information, analyse the information and pass judgement on its acceptability, and finally communicate the results to the regulatory body management and the future licensee.

V.3. REGULATORY BODY ACTIONS AND ASSOCIATED COMPETENCES

This section identifies the actions in IAEA Safety Standards Series No. SSG-16 [6] related to the main functions of the regulatory body. It also considers some of the additional functions of the regulatory body as well as its management system. Using the competence model described in Section 3, a few considerations are given for the associated tasks and competences for the introduction of a nuclear power programme.

This Appendix is more specific than the general discussion of competences for all facilities and activities. However, it is not intended to be exhaustive in identifying all the competences for each function, and the list of KSAs presented needs to be seen as illustrative only. Each entrant regulatory body needs to evaluate and to establish its own list of KSAs and levels of proficiency. Note that KSAs may appear in more than one function, as the specific KSAs are applicable to multiple functions. This Appendix does not attempt to correlate the sample tasks presented in Appendix I. However, consistent with the phase approach, the regulatory body needs to arrive at the same end point.

IAEA Safety Standards Series No. GSR Part 1 [1] establishes requirements related to the responsibilities and functions of the regulatory body and also identifies certain important tasks that the regulatory body has to perform to fulfil these functions and discharge its responsibilities. In recent years, various Member States have shown their interest to embark on a nuclear power programme.

This has highlighted the need to provide recommendations to these Member States on different phases of the development of a nuclear power programme and their regulatory infrastructure. IAEA Safety Standards Series No. SSG-16 [6] recommends meeting safety requirements progressively during Phases 1, 2 and 3 in the form of sequential actions. These actions broadly cover the tasks that are needed to accomplish the functions of the regulatory body. They can be documented in a detailed task list.

V.3.1. Review and assessment The embarking States have to initiate developing competences of their staff for review and assessment in Phase 2 as part of the preparation to conduct the review of applicants’ submissions in support of authorization applications in Phase 3 (see Sections 3.1.3, 4.1 and 4.2). The review of various parts of the submission needs staff with the specialized knowledge and skill in specific technical and management system areas. The regulatory body may not have competences in all areas during initial authorization phases, such as site authorization and construction authorization. Therefore, it may identify areas of support from outside organizations in certain specific areas and areas where its staff have to develop competences at an earlier stage and manage its activities accordingly. In developing competences on applied and specialized knowledge, the regulatory body may obtain support from another regulatory body that has already licensed an NPP of similar design — preferably the regulatory body of the vendor State. In such cases, the regulatory body needs to develop competences to evaluate the work of that regulatory body work and make a decision.

One of the key components of the regulatory body competence development programme is to reduce its dependency with time on outside organizations for review and assessment and to prepare its staff for review and assessment of authorization submissions for commissioning and operation phases. Early stages of Phase 3 are an appropriate time for starting this. However, if the State’s regulatory model relies more on technical support organizations (TSOs) for conducting review and assessment, the regulatory body must develop expertise to make an independent judgement on the work of the TSOs.

V.3.1.1. Actions in SSG-16 [6]

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(a) The regulatory body should review and assess the radiological environmental impact analysis for the site selected, as appropriate (Action 111).

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